Dalbey Education Launches Health and Wellness Program
New program rewards employees for physical activity and encourages healthy lifestyles
Employees of Dalbey Education, headquartered in Westminster, CO, can now earn an extra $500 a year by getting healthy through the company’s new health and wellness program, Virgin HealthMiles. Offered through health benefits company Humana Inc., the program incentivizes and rewards healthy goals such as exercising, lowering blood pressure and losing weight.
Dalbey Education is using the new program to motivate employees to get fit, stay healthy and to help offset the increasing cost of health care. “The program is easy and fun. It promises to have a positive, long term impact on our employees and help reduce our health care costs by creating a healthier workforce,” said Nancy Bodnar, Senior Director of Human Resources at Dalbey Education.
Since the program’s launch on January 6, 2009, employee participation is currently at 35 percent. Dalbey Education employees will set their goals, track their activity and key health measurements with self-tracking tools, including USB-enabled GoZone® pedometers and HealthZone measurement stations, and monitor their progress on their own personal online tracking center.
As employees proceed through the program’s “reward levels” and reach key milestones, they earn up to $500 in HealthCash in the form of a gift card to a national retailer, a personal check or to donate to a charity of their choice. The program also encourages teamwork. Dalbey employees will work in teams to create a sense of shared goals toward wellness and to participate in future health challenges as part of the program.
Dalbey Education subsidizes the membership cost. Bodnar added, “At Dalbey Education we’re focused on building innovative employee benefits, and implementing a health and wellness program was a clear next step in helping us enhance our culture of a healthy, focused and goal-oriented company.”
”It’s nice to be rewarded for something we should be doing anyway and more fun than just going to a gym alone,” says Jennifer Cline, a human resources coordinator and active program participant. “It is so easy to earn. I’m on track to my goal just by walking around with my pedometer on, logging in to my online account and taking my measurements once a month.”
